My Dad suggested that we pour a concrete foundation wall. Since neither of us had any experience laying cinder block walls, it made logical sense to build a poured concrete foundation. Yeah, right. We needed to purchase some 2 x 4’s and plywood and we would be ready to build the forms for the walls.
The size of the garage was 22 feet by 20 feet. I did not get the lot surveyed and the garage area marked off. Using a survey that we received when we purchased our house, I drew up a sketch that I could use to get all the permits needed to build the garage. (Yes, I got permits.) To layout the garage foundation, I used our house as the starting point. With my Craftman® tape measure, string, a level, a string level, and a framing square, Rehtorbym and I staked out the garage foundation. In the process of staking out the foundation, we noticed the back wall was going to be about 8 feet tall. That was going to come back and haunt us.
We wanted to be at least four feet down with our foundation, so we dug out by hand about a 12-inch-wide trench. I believe we achieved that depth with the front wall, but the sides and the back it was a little less. After we finished with the digging, we started building our foundation wall forms. We would place the bottom of the plywood form walls so they just rested on top of the ground, not inside the trench. Using cut 2 x 4’s, we made stakes and the framework for the foundation wall forms. The foundation was going to be 10 inches wide with a 16-foot cut out for the offset garage door opening. It took a couple weeks to build the forms, but we were ready for the concrete.
We unknowingly picked one of the hottest days of the summer to pour concrete. I recruited members of my own family: Rehtorbym, my Mom, my Dad and Efiwym. Between us we had zero knowledge on pouring concrete. I ordered about 8 cubic yards of concrete to make the foundation. We stood around in the late morning sun with our concrete tools in our hands waiting for the cement truck.
I heard the rumbling of the cement truck as it came down the street. We talked strategy amongst ourselves on how we were going to handle the big concrete pour. The truck backed into my gravel driveway. The truck was ominously close to the house. He guided the truck as close to the back of the driveway as possible. I saw the tires sinking in the driveway. The driver got out of his truck and mentioned that we needed to move fast. He was concerned that the weight of his truck could damage the house’s foundation. It also was extremely hot, and the cement would set up right away.
As the driver extended the discharge chute, we discovered that the chute was not long enough to reach the back wall. That was a problem and soon a bigger problem. The driver suggested to pour the cement in each side foundation wall form, and it would flow to the back wall. As the driver lined up the chute to the first side wall foundation form, he released the cement. With a sense of urgency, we used our shovels to help move the cement to the back wall of the forms. The cement quickly started to pile up in the front and would not flow to the back. We were using shovels and 2 x 4’s and our hands to move the cement. The driver halted the release of the cement. He suggested that he should thin out the cement so it would flow easier. He started adding water as the mixing drum rotated. Once he was satisfied with the additional water, he opened the chute. Out rushed the cement. It was now flowing to the back of the form.
We continued to help the cement along as it flowed nonstop. Suddenly I heard wood cracking. The back plywood wall had busted open pouring cement in my neighbor’s back yard. I know the neighbors did not want a concrete patio. Panic set in. We yelled to the driver to stop the cement. We ran down the hill to check out the wall. What were we going to do? My Dad suggested that we reinforced the wall where it opened up and add some 2 x 4’s to support the wall. We would clean up the neighbor’s back yard as good as possible and apologize later.
We started the pour again. My eyes were on the back wall as we continue to move the cement to the back. The wall held and we finally had the forms topped off. The driver got into his truck and drove away. We were all exhausted and covered with concrete. The concrete was setting up and the top of the foundation walls were troweled smooth. With all the distractions, I forgot to put in the anchor bolts. We would just deal with that issue later.
We washed off our arms and hands of cement and grabbed a sip of water from the hose. My Dad’s hands were swollen and burning from the cement. My Mom took him to the hospital. We continue to monitor the back wall and we stopped by the neighbors to let them know what happened. They were exceptionally good about it. When my Dad would return, his hands were bandaged. His wedding ring was cut to remove it.
The foundation was poured. I was glad it was done, but I was a little concerned how the back wall would look after we removed the forms. I would find out soon. My first experience with concrete would be memorable but pouring the garage floor would top it.